Privacy policy

NOTICE OF AS YORK PRIVACY AND PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION PRACTICES

Alzheimer Society of York Region (“AS York”) recognizes that protecting the privacy of your personal health information is an essential part of our commitment to quality service, programs and care. Our clients should know what personal health information we collect, how we use it, to whom we disclose it and how we protect it.

 

PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

Personal health information is information in any form that identifies you and that relates to your health and health care including health history, health care programs and services, health care providers, substitute decision makers, health card number and other personal identification numbers.

 

YOUR CONSENT AND PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

The Alzheimer Society of York Region (AS York) will only collect, use and disclose your personal health information with your consent or as required or permitted by law. You may change your mind and withdraw this consent at any time by providing notice to AS York provided that there are no legal requirements to prevent this.

 

HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

AS York may collect personal health information directly from you or another person who may act on your behalf such as a substitute decision maker or a parent or legal guardian of a minor. We may also collect personal health information about you from other sources if your consent has been obtained or if the law permits or requires the collection. The personal health information we collect may include your name, date of birth, address, health history, records of your visits to your physician or staff service provider at AS York, and the care that you received during those visits.

WHY WE COLLECT PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

AS York may collect personal health information for:

• the provision or assisting in provision of health care
• planning or delivering health programs or services
• arranging referrals, providing supportive counselling and establishing interventions
• health protection, health promotion and awareness
• public health administration and monitoring
• administering and managing the health care system
• purposes related to the function of the Medical Officer of Health pursuant to the Health Protection and Promotion Act
• conducting research and compiling statistics
• fundraising
• purposes permitted or required by law
• compliance with legal and regulatory requirements

 

HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION
AS York may use personal health information for the purposes for which it is collected, as listed above, e.g., to provide client care for you, as well as to:

• plan, administer and manage our internal operations
• conduct risk management and client safety and quality improvement activities including client satisfaction surveys
• teach
• obtain payment where necessary
• fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law

 

WHEN DO WE DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

AS York will not disclose your personal health information to any external person or entity without your consent unless it is permitted or required by law. For example, we may share your personal health information without your consent:

• with health care professionals for the purpose of providing you health care when it is not reasonably possible to obtain your consent, for example you are seriously ill or mentally incapacitated
• with public health authorities such as the Chief Medical Officer of Health and Medical Officer of Health
• with a person carrying out an inspection or investigation authorized by a warrant or by law
• where it is necessary to eliminate or reduce a significant risk of serious bodily harm
• pursuant to a summons, subpoena or court order, and to the Children’s Aid Society

 

To learn more about the purposes for which we disclose your personal health information, please consult our Personal Health Information and Privacy Practices Policy or contact our Privacy Officer listed below.

 

HOW WE PROTECT PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

AS York is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of personal health information held in any form. We employ physical, organizational and technological safeguards to protect your personal health information against theft and loss, as well as unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure and disposal.

We conduct audits and complete investigations to monitor and manage our privacy compliance.

All staff that come into contact with your personal health information are aware of its sensitive nature and are trained in the appropriate use, disclosure and protection of your personal health information. Staff will ensure the amount and type of personal health information collected, used or disclosed is limited to that which is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected.

We also require organizations that perform services or provide programs on our behalf to protect the privacy of your personal health information and to use such information only for the purposes you have consented to or that are permitted or required by law.

Finally, subject to certain exceptions, AS York will notify you at the first reasonable opportunity if your personal health information in our custody or control is stolen, lost or accessed by unauthorized persons.

 

YOUR RIGHTS

Under our Personal Health Information and Privacy Practices Policy, you have the right to: 

• be informed about the purposes for which we collect, use and disclose your personal health information
• request and be granted access, subject to limited exceptions, to your own personal health information in the custody or control of AS York (by contacting the staff member from whom you received health care or health programs or services or by contacting our Privacy Officer (see below)
• subject to limited exceptions, request and receive a photocopy of your personal health information at a minimal cost
• request correction of your own personal health information if you believe it is incomplete or inaccurate by contacting your physician or the Privacy Officer (see below)
• direct questions, comments or complaints about our policy or about alleged contraventions of the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 to our Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer will investigate any complaints and take action to resolve such complaints
• complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner if you believe that we have contravened our policy, or if you are not satisfied with the handling of your inquiry or complaint. The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner may be reached at:

Ontario Information and Privacy Commission
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
Tel: (416) 326-3333; Long Distance: 1-800-387-0073 (within Ontario) TDD/TTY: 416-325-7539
Fax (416) 325-9195
Email: [email protected]

 

AS YORK PRIVACY OFFICER

James Ye, MBA, CPA, CMA
Director, Finance & Support Services

2-240 Edward Street

Aurora, ON L4G 3S9

(905) 726-3477 ext. 224

[email protected]

 

WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY

AS York values and is committed to respecting the privacy of visitors to its website.

The data and information we collect through the website is used only to help achieve AS York’s mission. We only collect and store personal information that clients, donors and visitors to the website knowingly provide.

We do not collect any personal information from visitors browsing our website. When individuals use the public areas of our website they are doing so anonymously. We do collect aggregate-use information, such as the number of hits (visits) per page. We use aggregate data for internal and marketing purposes, but we don’t collect any personally identifying information.

If, while visiting our website, a person orders a product, makes a donation, registers for an event, or requests other information, they may be asked to provide certain information. In all cases this information is submitted voluntarily. In most cases, we ask visitors to provide their name, title, organization name, address, telephone, and e-mail address. When a donation/purchase is made, the person will be asked for credit card information in order to complete the transaction. Similar information may be submitted to us on an order form or registration form.

Our client/donor lists are not for sale.

Some of our website provides links to other sites created and maintained by other public and/or private sector organizations. These links are provided solely for information and convenience. When you link to an outside website, you are leaving the AS York website and our information management policies no longer apply.

If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact AS York’s Privacy Officer as noted above.